


Stay With Me

by ardentaislinn



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: F/M, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-30
Updated: 2015-01-30
Packaged: 2018-03-09 17:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3258440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ardentaislinn/pseuds/ardentaislinn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peggy calls Daniel with a mysterious message, asking him to come to the Griffith.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stay With Me

Daniel waited outside the Griffith, rubbing his hands together in an attempt to ward off the bitterly cold night air.

Peggy had called him an hour ago asking him to come and help her with something that she couldn’t talk about over the phone. Of course Daniel was confused, but nonetheless did as she requested ( _when wouldn’t he_ ) and stayed outside until she could send him some kind of signal. He didn’t know why he needed one, or what it would be, but he was a patient man and extremely intrigued.

Besides, he and Peggy had been working closely together over the last few months, had even become reasonably close, and this was far from the strangest request she had given him in that time.

He tried and failed not to think about the fact that he would soon be in Peggy’s room. Alone, God help him.

From inside the Griffith came the sound of two women talking, one at a very rapid pace and other in a shocked undertone. Daniel could hear them move past the door and away. Then, the sound became muffled and he figured they had moved into another room.

Almost immediately, a single women’s stocking drifted down from above and landed on his shoulder. He picked it up and stared blankly at it for a few moments. Slowly, his mind ticked over the possibilities and he tilted his head back until he saw Peggy hanging out a window with her finger on her lips indicating silence. He spread his arms in the universal “what?” gesture, and Peggy pointed, telling him to go inside.

Daniel pocketed her stocking, fully intending to give it back. Then, taking her cue, he tried to stay as silent as possible as he made his way inside, though it wasn’t easy with the crutch. The two female voices from earlier were still floating out from a room to the left, so Daniel moved over to the stairs. Just before he took the first step he glanced over at the room and caught the eye of a younger woman that was facing his way. He froze, but she just gave him a quick wink and a grin and turned back to the older woman that had her back to him.

Daniel was halfway up the stairs when Peggy stepped down onto the landing. She waved her hand and he followed her, still doing his best to be quiet.

It wasn’t until they were safely shut in her room that she turned to talk to him. “Thank you for coming. I’m sorry about the stocking, but I needed something silent and potentially disposable.” She said it so matter-of-factly, and Daniel felt his cheeks heat as the stocking burnt a metaphorical hole in his pocket. He pulled it out and handed it to her unceremoniously.

“It’s fine. So, why am I here?” he asked, changing the subject. Peggy’s eyes lit up in excitement.

“Come with me.” She placed her hand on his free arm to direct him. Daniel felt the jolt go through him at the contact, settling in his gut. He wished he didn’t have it quite so bad for her, but he had learned to be philosophical about it.

She took him into the small bathroom, which was strange enough. But once Daniel got a good look at the pictures, articles and string stuck to the wall, he turned to her incredulously.

“Peg? I don’t know how to say this, but what the hell?”

She waved him away, accidentally brushing his jacket as she did so because they were standing so close together due to lack of space in the room. “I do my best thinking in the bath,” she explained breezily.

He just stared at her for a long moment, surprised by his complete lack of surprise. Of course Peggy Carter would consider crimes and cases while bathing. What else? Because that’s what was covering her bathroom walls: reports, newspaper clippings, photographs and such things, all linked with reams of red string crossing through them all. He tried very hard not to think about Peggy wet and naked, so focused back on the walls.

“I recognise these cases,” he told her, his eyes roaming over the reports.

“It occurred to me last night that all the cases we’ve been working on together over the last few months – the ones that seemed really unimportant to the Chief and later turned out to be kind of interesting – might actually be linked. I’m sure that there is something bigger going on in this city, and I just can’t quite figure out what.”

“You’ve done your research,” he said, looking over her work appreciatively.

“I worked on it all last night and this morning.”

Daniel turned to give her an admonishing look. He knew that Peggy was not the type to concern herself with a proper sleep schedule, but he couldn’t help but wish she would take better care of herself sometimes. Now that he was paying attention, he noticed bags under her eyes and the glitter of exhaustion in her gaze.

“It’s incredible, of course. But we should work on it tomorrow, once you’ve had some sleep. If you want my help, of course,” he added.

“I definitely want your help. This could be the big break that finally gets us the respect we deserve in the office. But we should do at least some work now. There is no guarantee Angie will be able to pull the same stunt tomorrow to get you back in.”

“Angie?”

“She’s a good friend of mine. I told her that I wanted to bring a man up here, and she offered to help, no questions asked.”

“So, she thinks we’re…,” he gestured between the two of them helplessly.

“Well, I couldn’t exactly tell her the truth. Actually, she was thrilled by it. She keeps on at me about finding a man, so this will keep her off my back.” She smiled at him cheekily, then continued. “Besides, she thinks I’m a stickler for rules and thinks I should break more of them.” Peggy laughed loudly at this, seeming to think that the idea of her following rules was far more out of the question than the idea that she might be going steady with him. The thought stuck with Daniel.

“Right,” was all he said in reply. Their eyes caught and the smile faded from her face as the moment charged with tension. Daniel was acutely aware of how close they were standing. He wanted to move back to escape the building heat between them but had no room to manoeuver.

Peggy shifted infinitesimally closer, and Daniel’s heart began thudding painfully in his chest. Her gaze flickered down to his lips, and he involuntarily did the same to her. She couldn’t really be thinking about kissing him, surely?

She leaned in, and Daniel was just starting to think that _Jesus_ she might be, when there was a knock at the door to the apartment. Daniel and Peggy both stumbled back as far as they could go, which was not quite far enough.

“Peg,” a female voice whispered loudly. “Don’t send him down for a few hours at least. Miriam may have got a little suspicious and has practically glued herself to the front desk.”

Peggy was breathing hard and clutching a little at the collar of her shirt, but she still managed to make her “thanks, Angie,” sound almost normal.

“No problem,” said the voice, and then the sound of footsteps faded down the corridor.

“I should probably still go,” Daniel told her, admittedly a little regretfully.

“Please don’t.” She reached forward and grabbed his hand. When he didn’t pull away after a moment – couldn’t have if his life depended on it since he was frozen to the spot – she entwined their fingers together.

“Or you could, you know, stay,” she said softly, not looking him in the eye. His stomach tumbled as his mind processed her words. _Did she really just…?_

Feeling the freedom in her averted gaze, Daniel’s eyes moved over her face and he was struck anew by all the things he admired about her.

“Did you just…ask what I think you asked?” he clarified.

“Yes. I mean, unless you don’t feel the same way? Because then I definitely didn’t say it.”

Daniel shifted closer to her, so close his jacket brushed her dress. “I definitely feel that way about you.”

A grin of relief bloomed across her face. “Then I think it’s about time, don’t you?”

Daniel thought about how much their relationship had changed since they started working together. How close they’d grown, how much they had come to rely on one another. And he thought about how much he truly cared for her, and the possibly future they could have together.

And then he did the only thing he could.

“Yes,” he whispered as he cupped her face and pressed his lips firmly to hers.

 


End file.
